Introduction

Drawing on cultural theories and concepts, the project explores the shifting cultural identity of a city from the perspective of architecture. The paper looks at the architectural and spatial reconfigurations that have been taking place in Macao since the turn of the century, and suggests that the superimposition of new structures and built spaces, driven by new social forces, have attributed to the altered identity and cultural memory of the city. The superimposition is surveyed from six intersecting perspectives: the anamorphic, the hyperreal, the ideological, the spiritual, the touristy, and the everyday. The paper reflects on the city’s spatial realities and the associated (re)construction of past and present narratives, while imagining a trajectory where continuities can be negotiated from beyond.

Architecture has the power to articulate, foster, inform, while mirroring the city's historical memories.

Kris Chi: Posted on Facebook and IG on Feb 7, 2022

Highlights

• With the architectural alterations made on and around historical sites, heritage buildings, though seemingly let ‘intact’, have in fact been turned into anamorphic scenes. The change of a city’s memory is not derived from the direct removal of historic buildings, but rather from changing the context that the buildings reside in.
• Macao’s mega gaming sites, characterized by nondescript buildings, simulations and spectacles, together formed a hyperreality. The original city did not disappear by being overwritten, but by the superimposition of a powerful, hyperreal world that is built upon it, and runs alongside it.

Highlights

• “Aesthetics is an ideological act.” (Jamerson) The superimposition of placeless and nondescript signs, manifested through the new architecture in the city, overrides the images and aesthetics of the old, mediating a renewed cultural message and reception.
• The pre-colonial and colonial religious sites in Macao have remained in site, but their presence is overwhelmed by the new, more gigantic ones. The striking religious architecture communicates a more powerful presence and the vision of a more blessed future, producing a different aura for the city.

Highlights

• Macao’s spatial identity is defined by monumental spaces and buildings. These monuments, now staged for tourist consumption, only “give us history as decoration, as nostalgia.” (Abbas) When connections between the monuments and residents wane, so does cultural memory.
• Architecture has the power to articulate, foster, inform, while mirroring a city’s historical and cultural memories. The labyrinthine city structure that used to form people’s everyday has become largely fragmented. The big picture is revised, and the revised composite of architectural memories in a city informs a revised identity.

Experience at MALCS

The methodologies, concepts and perspectives that I was exposed to at MALCS have contributed greatly to my ability to think interdisciplinarily. I completed the programme feeling inspired and enriched; and importantly, I have acquired a toolbox that would help me think about “culture”, in its many manifestations and connotations.